New House vs Old House

Re. Neighbours: in a new development you don't have an established community and it can turn out anywhere from really well to really poor. Not everyone in Social housing is a scumbag and not everyone paying a mortgage is a nice, laid back person.

But I think you summed it up pretty well in your post, at the end of the day it's very much personal preference, we went with the old.

What do you mean by old house? Do you just mean sevond habd? Do you mean beautiful red brick old Georgian house? If so the location is usually better ie nearer to the city and a ' better' neighbourhood. Also the period features e.g. old floors doors and fireplaces. Also usually lots of trees and beauty about the neighbourhood. Personal I consider houses like people and wouldn't consider them old until.the reach at least 70 / 75 years.....

Glen_Quagmire wrote: »

Yes very true. This is probably my biggest concern if I'm honest. You can pick your house big you can't pick your neighbours

I moved into a new build and zero complaints. 90% of the people moving in were people with young families or just about to start. So our children are all around the same age. We have a summer and winter festival where everyone gets together, clear the streets, setup tents, bences, bouncy castle, BBQ, beer taps, music, etc

We also have a private Facebook group where we can discuss legal issues, cleaners, organise certain maintenance actives like annual heating, ventilation maintenance to get group discounts and so on.

We also have groups for internal activities, I play football with a group of dads every week, regular beer meetups, going to games, etc

This is something that would be near impossible to get going if you just move in somewhere already existing.

New house. Everything works and no surprises.

I would not be a fan of new houses, personally.

I can see the benefits (help to buy scheme, no bidding, pretty know what you're getting). But they lack character, have tiny gardens and are generally not in settled locations.

Lia_lia wrote: »

I would not be a fan of new houses, personally.

I can see the benefits (help to buy scheme, no bidding, pretty know what you're getting). But they lack character, have tiny gardens and are generally not in settled locations.

Fine line between character and outdated. I guess it depends on what people are referring to an “old”. Personally any of the 1960s-1980s semi we viewed I thought had a very outdated exterior and even worse interior . A slightly smaller garden in exchange for a much fresher look inside and out was a major appeal to us. . Avoiding “Settled” Estates was a big plus also much rather get to know people in the same boat as myself. We were lucky as the estate in a sought after area in cork so best of both worlds for us.

Starting a new family a brand new house makes sense to us now. Often depends where in life you are also

'Old' house
Larger front and back gardens
Having a feont garden and not stepping out onto a footpath from your front door
Private driveways
Probably no risk of private clampers being brought in or being forced to pay to park your car outsode your house a few years after you bought your house by money hungry builders who still own the paths and roads your house is built on unknown to you.
Room for 2 or 3 cars and also on street parking
Being able to park outside your own house
No car wars with neighbours
No management companies -nightmare
Council probably still responsible for the outside streets and footpaths - not you
Council probably responsible for upkeep and grasscutting of green areas - not you
Council sued if problem - not the homeowners of the 'private' estate or their 'homeowners/management company' who also have to pay annually for insurance for the area

Established area - priceless - you can see and know what you are getting into

No chance of 'hidden social problems' - charities are block buying hundreds of houses and appartments with govt money in private estates and putting council house waiting listers into them at e30 per week maximum rate - including ex prisoners (homeless), itinerants (homeless) and the great unwashed -unknown - risk of no personal funds for upkeep or maintenance of day to day issues like painting or gardens/drains etc leading to ghettoisation and issues

Mature planting and trees - a great indicator of an upmarket and leafy settled area

Reputation. Already established. People know where the no go social zones are and poverty and drug filled areas are and where criminal classes live - they don't typically chose to move in there with them unless they want to.

Rental areas with high density of new builds and high immigration and turnover of renters - schools typically overburdened and issues with language and learning abd teacher to class ration. Some schools now have 10-15 different mother languages and one teacher struggling to teach maths or english to children in this environment. Quality of schooling an issue for parents.

Older houses may have shabby diy or may have been invested in and upgraded internally or extended during the celtic tiger. Old furniture and decor can be removed or sold and walls painted but you cannot make small houses bigger no matter how new the bijoux furniture or salespatter.

New insulation techniques can be applied to old houses as can older windows be replaced - many new houses were built with poor soundproofing as well as good insulation - you can fix the insulation on an old house - but you cannot fix wafer thin walls.

Promises of more busses on bus routes or metros to be built can lainger for 10 or 15 years. Ancient bus routes serving country roads noelw servicing thousanfs of new houses but with the same 1970's bus timetable and utter apathy from bus eireann and empty clanking from 'local' politicans and politicians families.

Actual green spaces and parks for children to play inna nd dogs to be walked in - not tiny square greens around a few houses where hundreds of new families' screaming kids will congregagate to torment those that live on it and proper green spaces not just caged plastic playgrounds outsode a few homes where antisocial issues and noise will torment them for years because every other square inch is built on and there is nolarge walking distance parks or large local green spaces for children to run and roar on.

Etc

I prefer new houses. Maybe it’s because that’s what I could afford as old houses bidding wars get out of hand quickly.

My parents house is over 300 years old and my dad is constantly getting work done to it. Only when he hits to the top floor does he have to start back in the basement doing something else up. They have a huge front and back garden but they’re never stopped weeding and planting and cutting grass. I’d say I’ve seen them sit out in it a handful of times in the last 30 years.

The feeling of a blank canvas of a new house is much desired by me. If done right you can have a big home with less chance to clutter as that’s where the preci Us owners had a China press or similar. I’m not that handy when it comes to DIY either so having to constantly be fixing small things here and there from the get go would be annoying, at least with a new build (provided it’s well built) you shouldn’t have much if anything to do in this regard.

I haven’t moved into my home yet, but I’m in a group with my neighbours on WhatsApp, have met them all at showings and they all seem like lovely people, we’re all around the same age and not to jinx it but seems like they’ll be all quiet and friendly and no grumpy dry ****es telling you a tree is blocking their light etc. Juxtapose this with my parents and they literally talk to one set of neighbours the odd time and it’s very much a “hi how’s the weather”.